Frankly that is the best case scenario for crypto. It's similar to the dot com bubble in 1999 actually, it's 20 years later and the internet is finally somewhat useful and intergrated into our lives. Originally it was just a bubble inflated with ad revenue inflated with investor money

Yeah, but the web was instantly useful for a huge array of legitimate uses.

It was never a solution in search of a problem.

In 1999 the tech wasn't there but everyone could see where it was going, like all investments, it was a matter of timing.

Crypto is still at the fundamental research phase and we don't even have consensus that it does more good than bad, yet.

It does good when your bank accounts get shut down, as happened to Wikileaks for example.

That's a super niche application, not a mass market use.

And yes, I know about the supposed use for people in countries with unstable regimes but I'm not convinced at the moment. Plus that use case, being that of people generally having low disposable incomes (barring China) absolutely doesn't justify the market value of crypto at the moment.

Inflation hits the masses, or in general money supply manipulation schemes. In the last few weeks, markets tanked just because the FEDs announced they plan to increase interest rates. Is that really how we want to go on?

Cryptocurrencies are only used for speculation.

That's your best argument against regular currencies? That they're being manipulated, too? :-)

Bitcoin is not being manipulated. You may be confusing it with Bitcoin markets and Bitcoin trading. Nobody can conjure Bitcoin out of thin air or manipulate interest rates on it.

> Nobody can conjure Bitcoin out of thin air

That's exactly what Bitcoin miners do: They take pure thin air and convert it into noxious power plant fumes. Pure air is what the odiferous Bitcoin is conjured out of.

Bitcoin has been working pretty well for years now.

Working well for what? It's useless as currency.

Working well at letting people keep and transfer crypto coins.

Cabbage patch dolls and pet rocks also work very well at letting people keep and transfer cabbage patch dolls and pet rocks, but that doesn't make cabbage patch dolls and pet rocks a sensible base for the economy. Crypto-"currency" proponents sound pretty much like the folks who used to think cabbage patch dolls and pet rocks would be the future currency.